Accounts can wait, need money for job scheme: Maya

Three letters from different levels of bureaucracy have been sent on the state Government’s behalf to the Centre asking for Rs 1,100 crore to implement the job scheme. With the Centre yet to respond, the Uttar Pradesh Department of Rural Development is now contemplating a reminder, signed by Mayawati herself.

“Our demand for Rs 1,100 crore for 11 districts has been pending since February 4. The Central Government released Rs 121 crore last month, against which we have utilised Rs 147 crore in the NREGA,” says Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Rohit Nandan.

Officers in the department claim that in districts like Sonebhadra, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur and Hamirpur, jobs have been given but the state has no money to pay card holders. “We will be forced to apply brakes on the scheme as the Act makes it mandatory to pay the job card holder within 15 days,” says a Government official.

The state Government records also claim that Rs 1,514 crore has been spent between April 2007 and February 2008 under the NREGA, whereas only Rs 638 crore was spent in the same period in 2006-07. While so far Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan were rated as the best-performing states in implementation of the NREGA, the Mayawati Government now claims it has left behind Andhra and Rajasthan.

However, UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi — who launched the ‘Hisaab Maango’ campaign in the state — finds these claims hard to digest. “One thing UP Government officials are most efficient at is giving utilisation certificates,” she says.

According to Joshi, the NREGA records being touted by state officials are “fake” and Uttar Pradesh was actually among the worst in execution of the scheme.